Mary Pat Rowland: Dinner rut must be broken

Sunday

Aug 31, 2008 at 3:15 AMAug 31, 2008 at 5:52 AM

By Mary Pat RowlandHaving My Say

I was in food heaven last Sunday.

My daughters, Emily, 26, and Ellie, 22, telephoned and invited me to go out for a bite to eat at a nice restaurant downtown. Though such an outing may not sound like much, for me it was like flying to Rio de Janeiro for Carnival.

I have five foster children (four boys and a girl) ranging in age from 17 to 7. My husband, Dan, and I will soon adopt them all. So, it's more than a little busy at my house, and a trip to Wal-Mart is about as exotic as it gets these days.

I'm fine with that. It's what I choose to do with my life. But, that said, Sunday's unexpected dining experience was such a sweet diversion.

My girls ordered the most perfect bottle of pinot noir. Our appetizer was simple, but delicious — hummus and red onions served with triangular slices of pita bread. I could have made it myself in about five minutes by whirring the ingredients together in the food processor at home, but it tasted so good to be treated.

After that we each ordered a salad. Mine was a generous scoop of soft, creamy goat cheese sitting atop a bed of fresh greens. The dressing was a subtle vinaigrette made with plenty of chunky, sweet particles of sun-dried tomatoes. There were plenty of toasted pine nuts, which delivered an incredibly rich flavor and mouth-pleasing crunch. And, best of all, a layer of caramelized onions to finish it off.

I am a child of parents who lived through the Great Depression, so I have been trained to be a member of the "Clean Plate Club," even when the food is not so enticing. But that was not the case with the goat cheese salad. I felt like licking the plate, but did not want to embarrass my beautiful daughters.

The company was great, the food was wonderful and the experience made me see that I am in a bit of a food rut at home with the five children. We are certainly not going to be eating goat cheese salad every night, or any night for that matter. But we need to break out and get a little crazy once in awhile. Our meals have become boring.

"What should we have for dinner?" I'll say to Dan.

"Something on the grill," he mumbles.

"That's what you always say," I remind him.

"Yah. So, it's easy," he replies. "How about cheeseburgers?"

"Because we just had them and the kids are sick of them," I say.

"Oh, OK. Just get what you want then."

And the conversation is over.

Next I ask Ben (not his real name because the state wants to protect his privacy). He's 17 and loves junk food. Bagel bites, pizza rolls, Hot Pockets — just about anything that is heavily processed and comes out of a box. He adores McDonald's quarter pounders, too. His idea of food preparation is taking something out of a cardboard box and microwaving it for 1 minute.

"Ben, what should we have for dinner tonight?" I ask.

"I don't know. How about pizza?" he'll say.

"I can't afford to do take out food every night and it's not healthy," I tell him. "Would you eat a hamburger?"

"No," Ben protests.

"What about chicken?" I ask.

"No. I'm kind of sick of it," he says, trying not to hurt my feelings.

Finally, after a rundown that goes nowhere, I'm off to the store to buy some sort of meat to grill again because it's easier than figuring out what to have for dinner.

In my defense, it's very hard to please such a large group of children. They love fast food. That was their home cooking. But it's not very healthy, so I have made my own healthier versions of greasy chain food.

For instance, I make buffalo chicken with plenty of hot sauce, but no breading. They like it fine, but I can't expect them to eat it every night.

They love Easy Mac, which I think is one of the most repulsive foods on the planet. I have put together my own bistro-worthy macaroni and cheese made with extra-sharp cheddar, but that's repulsive to them because I didn't make it with Velveeta — again, the more processed the food, the better they like it.

Let's put it this way, Velveeta is a far cry from the goat cheese I relished on Sunday.

To his credit, Ben has tried what he believes to be some pretty weird foods since coming to live with us more than a year-and-a-half ago. One night Emily and Ellie came over for dinner and I made a fabulous pesto with fresh basil, Romano cheese, olive oil, garlic, parsley and walnuts. Ben spread a little on some warm pasta and took a bite. To him, it seemed like he was eating grass. He and his 13-year-old brother, Brad (not his real name), got the giggles about the green goo some of us were enjoying. I'm sure they would have much preferred a Big Mac meal.

But I am working on broadening their taste buds gradually. Saturday, Ben asked for my homemade pizza. "Yours taste so great. Please make it. I know it's a lot of work, but I really want some," Ben begged.

So I made three large pizzas that were very inexpensive and very delicious. Ben devoured his slices and I felt victorious.

Now for my next trick — pesto pizza!

Mary Pat Rowland is the managing editor of Foster's Daily Democrat. Her column appears every other Sunday in the Friends & Neighbors section. Her e-mail address is mprowland@fosters.com.

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